Comments on: Keone Kela Is Good And Important

By: Patrick O'Neill

Patrick O'Neill — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:08:06 +0000

Good article, Jake. I certainly didn’t know this background info on Kela. I hope he changes his mind about talking to press. You have to have a thick skin as a player.

I also grew up in Pgh but haven’t lived there for years. I get frustrated with my brother, who’s still there, when he complains that the Pirates should have a similiar biz plan to the Steelers and Pens. That’s impossible because those sports have salary caps and their expenses, incomes, so much else is completely different. Baseball’s salary control mechanism is called a “luxury tax,’ which tells you everything. A big market team can afford to pay that if it wants.

It only makes sense if you compare the Pirates to other mid-market BASEBALL teams (KC, Minn, etc). Compare them to Cleveland, for goodness sakes, if you want to make a case. I do wish Nutting would spend more but there are many things that go into this, not just Nutting’s and minority owners’ pockets.

They should invest more in players, for example, to boost viewers, listeners, and attendance to prepare for the next media contract(s).

But they are also planning, I think and hope, to spend more on arb-eligible players going into next year and the next. It’s all a gamble, and several gambles, especially when you can’t make big-time mistakes and brush it aside
like big-market teams.

I live in NYC and sports media here are huge and also very critical, and fans/media are extremely fickle, but sometimes I feel that many Pgh fans are more so than in NYC.

Oh well, that’s why they call us all fans (short for fanatics). Arguments are part of the deal. (That’s part of why I hate the DH but that’s another story).

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 04:33:49 +0000

This.

By: Daquido Bazzini

Daquido Bazzini — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 20:51:16 +0000

Anyone that thinks the sports media in Pittsburgh is any worse than most other cities…..Haven’t lived in other cities.
It’s a jungle out there…Period.
As for Kela, I don’t like the decision.
The Pirates have enough problems (starting at the top with cheapskate extraordinaire Bob Nutting).
No need to add to the situation with what will only be seen as an attitude problem.
What a mess this once proud organization is!

By: Tony V

Tony V — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 15:12:30 +0000

The population in Pgh is the most negative, self pitying group of people in the country. The local sports media is playing to their audience. Locals lost hope when the mills closed in the late 70s and developed a toxic culture that permeates everything. The Steelers seem to be the most resistant to the stink as they were good during the worst of times. I left do to the negativity and see it first hand every trip back. I love my family and friends but a week at a time is more than enough with the rest.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 14:52:49 +0000

Great article. Good insight. SVC Class of ’85 here, and my picture is hanging in the shack, around a cake from the year SVC went co-ed. Keep up the good work.

By: Murray

Murray — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 13:29:08 +0000

This is awesome. I’m not from Pittsburgh but have been following the Pirates since the mid-70s and am a huge fan. Since I don’t hear/see them on a daily basis,I guess I didn’t know just HOW annoying Dunlap and Madden were until their pissing match last week. Dejan I hadn’t read in years and I didn’t know he had his own problems these days as well.

I never really understood why we need to hear so much from these players anyway. If they don’t want to talk, that’s fine with me. Some have good things to say but most of it is exactly like the Bull Durham cliche scenes.

Maybe it’s good if the players say less and focus more on their jobs. I wouldn’t want to be interviewed every day after work either.